Man City Manager Pep Guardiola "has hit out at organisers of the abandoned Manchester derby in Beijing over the perilous state of the pitch at the Bird’s Nest," according to Paul Hirst of the LONDON TIMES.
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City’s first meeting with its near neighbors "on foreign soil was called off on Friday after torrential rain swept through Beijing." Guardiola insisted that the match "could have gone ahead" had the Int'l Champions Cup "laid a better pitch." He said, "They [the ICC] are looking for hotels, inviting players, but at the end, if the pitch is not good enough, all that doesn’t matter. For them, the pitch doesn’t matter, but for us it’s the most important thing. It is a good lesson for the organizers. Our groundsman was there for 10 days to try to take care of the pitch. It wasn’t [cancelled because of] the rain. It was just the state of the pitch. It was unacceptable." Guardiola "is considering hosting a behind-closed-doors friendly" at Man City’s training ground next week "to compensate for the lack of game time his players have had on tour" (LONDON TIMES, 7/27).
GETTING IN SHAPE: The BBC reported Guardiola "has exiled some of his players from first-team training until they meet certain weight targets."
Defender Gael Clichy said that the Spaniard has told his squad "to avoid pizza, some juice and certain 'heavy food.'" Guardiola: "They are not overweight, but I want my players fit. The weight is so important. When you are not fit, danger is coming. You're not fast enough or quick enough in the head." Clichy said that he "is fully behind Guardiola's approach." He said,
"For my part, it's the first time any manager has really done it" (BBC, 7/27).
